


all you have to do is call my name

by theinvisibledisaster



Series: 666 Fics [6]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gilmore Girls Setting, Bellamy Blake is a History & Mythology Nerd, Bellamy as Luke, Clarke as Lorelai, Coffee, Coffee Addict Clarke Griffin, Diners, F/M, Family Issues, Friends to Lovers, I don't know, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Mom clarke, Past Drug Addiction, Slow Burn Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Small Towns, also clarke as rory and bellamy as jess, because both vibes fit them and i couldn't decide, but a CLOSET nerd, hence the Jess vibes, i'm bisexual i'm allowed, i'm just saying that it fell out of brain this way, i'm not saying it makes any sense, it's like Gilmore Girls: The Younger Years, madi as younger lil baby rory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-12 19:58:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21481993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinvisibledisaster/pseuds/theinvisibledisaster
Summary: “Bad day?” Bellamy’s familiar gruff voice washed over her.“Coffee.”She heard Bellamy snort, and then there was something being pressed against her hand. She curled her fingers around the mug and slowly rolled her spine back until she was sitting up. He’d given her the extra large mug, which he never did, so she must look bad.She felt her shoulders slump. “It was like every evil customer in the world decided to holiday in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere on the same day. Plus Harper’s on maternity leave at the same time as Murphy is on his honeymoon, so the kitchen’s in chaos, my love life is nonexistent, my daughter hates me, and my entire life is a disaster.”“She doesn’t hate you.” He tutted, and appraised her concernedly, sliding a croissant across the countertop. “When was the last time you ate?”Clarke ignored the question. “She does.”“She doesn’t.”“She’s staying at her grandmother’s tonight.”“So?”“So she hates me.”Bellamy sighed. “Please eat something.”A little Gilmore Girls AU!
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Series: 666 Fics [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1498343
Comments: 48
Kudos: 319





	all you have to do is call my name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aainiouu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aainiouu/gifts).

> @aainiouu asked for a Bellarke Gilmore Girls AU and i honestly couldn’t decide if i wanted to do them as Jess/Rory or as Luke/Lorelai so i mainly did them as Luke/Lorelai but there's _elements_ of some literati in there, just little bits and pieces. 
> 
> title comes from the Gilmore Girls theme song BECAUSE OF COURSE IT DOES!!!
> 
> I hope you liked ittttttt

Clarke made a beeline for Blake’s Diner, practically battering the door off its hinges to get inside, and collapsed against the counter, banging her head on the surface in frustration.

“Bad day?” Bellamy’s familiar gruff voice washed over her.

_“Coffee.”_

She heard Bellamy snort, and then there was something being pressed against her hand. She curled her fingers around the mug and slowly rolled her spine back until she was sitting up. He’d given her the extra large mug, which he _never_ did, so she must look _bad._

He - wisely - waited until she had a few sips of coffee before he asked, “Busy day at the Inn?”

She felt her shoulders slump involuntarily. “The worst. It was like every evil customer in the world decided to holiday in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere on the same day. Plus Harper’s on maternity leave at the same time as Murphy is on his honeymoon, so the kitchen’s in chaos, my love life is nonexistent, my daughter hates me, and my entire life is a disaster.”

“Your daughter doesn’t hate you.” He tutted, and appraised her concernedly, sliding a croissant across the countertop. “When was the last time you ate?”

Clarke ignored the question. “She does.”

He made a face at her. “She doesn’t.”

“She’s staying at her grandmother’s tonight.”

“So?”

“So she hates me.”

Bellamy sighed. “Please eat something.”

She propped her chin up with one hand and leaned forward, batting her eyelashes at him exaggeratedly. “Aw, Bellamy, you should be careful, someone might think you’re worried about me.”

All he did was roll his eyes and turn back to change the coffee pot over. “Clarke, this is a diner, usually people eat when they come in here.”

She huffed at him, but she bit into the pastry anyway, and it was delicious - as usual. Once she’d finished the first mug and forced him to pour her another, she finally felt as though she was edging towards solid ground again.

“Better?” Bellamy asked as he strode past to deliver Sinclair a burger.

She smiled wanly. “Better.”

He seemed to realise she wasn’t quite back to herself yet, and folded his hand over hers on the counter, briefly, and squeezed it. “She doesn’t hate you.”

The smiled fractured a little. “You didn’t see the way she looked at me when I told her I didn’t want her talking to Abby anymore. And then she turned around to stay at hers and didn’t check it with me or anything, just _ran away.”_

“She didn’t run away.” He busied himself behind the till, pretending as if he didn’t care, despite both of them knowing he did; he loved Madi as if she was his kid, and she basically was.

When Clarke had run away from her mother at 16, baby in her arms and no prospects, she’d ended up in the Waterfall Inn in Shallow Valley and after two days didn’t have enough money to stay any longer, or even to afford food. The owner had taken pity on her and let her earn her keep, and after a few years she had enough money to move into her own place in the town. She built a life there. She found her place, and the town accepted the two of them with open arms.

Raven, the local mechanic, was snippy, but she was always there if Clarke needed a drink, or when her car broke down. Which was constantly.

Harper and Murphy, the Inn’s chef team, were Clarke’s closest friends, and she loved them like family - hated them like family too, especially when Murphy decided that the night a reviewer came through town was the right time to get experimental with his dishes - and they adored Madi, along with everyone else in the town.

Monty, the Inn’s vegetable man, fell for Harper almost immediately, and they flirted for years before finally tying the knot. Murphy had almost snapped and locked them in a closet together, but Clarke managed to hold him back. For a while. By the time it reached the three year mark with no date in sight, Clarke was the one looking for the closet key. Luckily, one afternoon Monty had come in with a new kind of strawberry that he’d named after Harper, and, well. That’ll do it. They had a baby on the way and for all accounts were living their best lives and Clarke was happy to be a part of it.

Jasper, Bellamy’s most regular customer aside from Clarke, and the town’s resident jack of all trades, worked in almost every store and profession at some point, so Clarke saw him around a lot and they ended up forming a weird friendship that no-one seemed to understand.

Jaha, who ran the town’s only grocery and shopping centre and also happened to be the mayor, was constantly in some war or another, usually with Bellamy, over how to run the town, and Clarke thought it was more entertaining that cable TV. Not that she’d tell Bellamy that, for fear of getting her coffee privileges revoked.

Diyoza, the primary school teacher and resident sass queen was always around to tease Clarke and Madi and ask Clarke whether or not she’d starting banging Bellamy yet.

And, of course, Bellamy.

Bellamy who had brought the diner up from nothing while raising his sister who, upon turning 18, promptly skipped town.

Bellamy who seemed so angry when she first met him - angry at the world, angry at his life, angry at the customers - but who she quickly learned was hiding a heart of gold.

Bellamy who, when Madi fell sick, _really_, _properly_ _sick_, for the first time, and Clarke was out of her mind with worry, opened the diner at midnight just to make her a coffee and promise her everything would be okay.

Bellamy.

Who she’d definitely been in love with for at least a decade.

Her life was a _disaster_.

Clarke tried to curl herself around the coffee mug in her arms, leeching warmth from it. “She is in the _one place_ I told her not to be, and now if I go down there and get her, _I’m_ the bad guy.”

“Why haven’t you just told her about Abby?”

“Because she’s a kid, I don’t want to be the one to make her grandma look different to her.”

“Clarke you moved out because your mom was an addict. It wouldn’t have been safe to raise her in that house. But she’s nearly ten years sober and Madi has never seen her in anything other than the perfect light. If you want her to understand why you didn’t talk for most of her childhood, or why you hated accepting her money to send Madi to Sanctum High, or why you constantly return from her house stressed-”

“-to be fair I try to wait until I get here to really let the stress out. Dumping it on you is more fun, and probably healthier, than venting to my child about it-”

“-thank god you’re being healthy then.” He remarked, eyebrow raised, and she groaned.

“I know it’s not fair for me to get wound up like this, I just... I don’t like the idea of leaving her alone with my mother, and you’re my best friend, so you’re gonna sit there and listen to me vent, dammit.” She grumbled.

He slowed his movements, glancing up at her the way he always did when he was trying and failing to be casual about something. “I’m your best friend?”

She scrunched up her nose at him. “Obviously.”

He blinked. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“No it’s just... I thought Harper was your best friend. Or Murphy.”

“Well, yeah, but...” She hesitated. “You’re... _you.”_

He nodded pensively, clearly still processing the information, and she took the opportunity to look at him a little longer than normal. He was practically glowing in the late afternoon sun as it twinkled through the windows, and it reminded her of the afternoon they'd taken Madi to the fields when she was six. They had a picnic and made pictures out of clouds, and Madi told them that you couldn't see the cloud paintings properly if you didn't stick your feet in the air. So the three of them had lay there for hours, staring at the sky, legs waving in the air, in the middle of a field, tossing chocolate and bits of cheese at each other as the sun went down. It was one of the best days of Clarke's life. It was one of the first times she remembered thinking she was actually making a _perfect _memory for Madi. Those moments didn't come around very often, and more often than not, they tended to be when Bellamy was around. Go figure.

The door jingled and Clarke remembered that she was in public, just staring at her best friend, and quickly dropped her gaze to her nearly empty mug of coffee.

Someone clapped her on the back. “Oof, Bellamy got out the Clarke Mug, it must be bad.”

“Speaking of which, I’m cutting you off after this.” Bellamy said, pointing at the mug. “Two Clarke servings is the limit.”

“One more.” She whined.

“You want another coffee, you get it in a normal mug, like normal people.” He scolded, turning away and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, _“I have no idea how you’re not dead yet.”_

She stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Jasper as he slid onto the stool beside her. “It’s not that bad. I feel better now.”

Jasper snorted into the plate of waffles Bellamy shoved under his nose. “You know, I think you’re the only person I’ve ever met who feels _better_ after they talk to Bellamy.”

She laughed, and Bellamy threw a damp rag at his face.

He threw it back, smiling at Bellamy with that way he had where you couldn't be mad at him for too long. Jasper turned back to Clarke. “Seriously though, is there anything I can do?”

Clarke shrugged. “She’s nearly fifteen. She can make her own choices.”

“That’s surprisingly progressive of you.”

“I’m a bisexual, single mother, who frequently takes days off from work to protest injustice, what about me isn’t progressive?” She said, making a show of mockingly puffing herself up. 

“Your parenting.” He said, and Bellamy hid a laugh behind his hand.

“Fuck off.” She complained. "Both of you."

Her phone started buzzing in her pocket and she fished it out. Madi was calling her. She’d barely been at Abby’s for an hour, so naturally, Clarke panicked immediately and answered the phone in a rush.

“Madi? Baby, you okay?”

_“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine.”_ She said, but she sounded off.

Bellamy cut his gaze from the food he was plating up and jerked his chin at the phone. She nodded and he squeezed her shoulder as he walked around the counter. Always offering support when she needed it, even when _she_ didn’t know she needed it.

"Are you sure?" She had to ask. 

Someone came into the diner to order a coffee and she heard his phone ring. She knew what was coming before it happened, and sure enough, Bellamy’s voice followed the tune.

“No calls in here.” He snapped, pointing at the large sign that sat below the clock.

The man, already halfway to answering the phone, gestured irritably at Clarke.

Bellamy folded his arms. “No calls in here.”

Jasper put a hand on the man’s arm. “Don’t argue with him on this dude. He’s taken down far mightier foes than you. The whole town still has a day of mourning on the day of the great cell massacre of 2009. Clarke gets a pass, but _no-one else does.”_

And he said it with such severity and aplomb that the man actually hung up the phone and pocketed it while he waited for his coffee.

Down the line, Clarke thought she heard Madi sniffle. _“I’m sorry I ran away.”_

Clarke flipped the bird at Bellamy triumphantly, the way she always did when she was right and he was wrong, and he blinked amusedly back at her - he didn't know what Madi had said, but he could guess.

“That’s okay, I’m sorry I shouted at you, I shouldn’t have.” She said. “It’s my job to take care of you, I shouldn’t have let my temper run away like that. If you want to stay with your grandmother, that’s your choice. I shouldn’t try and stop you just because of my own issues with her. She loves you, and she’s capable of-”

_“-Mom?”_

“What’s up?”

_“Can you, um. Can you come pick me up please?”_

Clarke’s stomach jumped into her throat. “Yeah, sure honey, what’s wrong?”

_“Nothing’s wrong, I just... I’m sorry.”_

“I told you, you have nothing to be sorry for. I promise. I overreacted.”

_“Grandma told me what happened.”_

Clarke’s stomach went from her stomach to her shoes in less than a second. She felt dizzy and propped her elbow on the counter, leaning her head against the phone. “Oh baby I’m so sorry.”

Bellamy handed the stranger his coffee, but his eyes were on her, concerned, and the second he passed the cup over, he moved down the counter until he was right in front of her. “You okay?” He mouthed.

She didn’t answer him, too overwhelmed. “Madi, are you safe, did something happen?”

_“No.”_

“Madi.”

_“I asked her why you were so mad at me for wanting to sleep over at hers and she got annoyed and said it was because of something that happened when I was a baby, and I didn’t know I’d ever met her as a baby, So I asked, I, I asked her what it was...”_ She took a shaky breath. _“I don’t want to be here anymore. Can you pick me up, please?”_

“Okay baby, I’ll be there soon, alright?” She promised, dropping her phone into her bag and scrambling for her keys. Her hands were so shaky that she dropped them, and when she made to pick them up, Bellamy was already there, steady hands pocketing the keys and guiding her towards the door. “What are you doing?”

“Driving.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Bellamy you have a diner to run.” She pointed out, but she let him nudge her forward anyway.

“Jasper can keep an eye on things until we get back, can’t you Jasper?”

“Sure thing boss.” He said, mock saluting. “Burgers are those meaty things, right?”

The door jangled shut behind them and Bellamy climbed into his truck and made sure she had her seatbelt on before he pulled out onto the road. He knew where he was going, because of the last time he’d been to Abby Griffin’s place.

* * *

_Madi was barely past one when Clarke finally got the call she’d been waiting for. Her mother rang, swearing up and down that she was clean. She’d been clean for a year, she’d waited until she was sure, she was certain she was ready._

_So Clarke put on her nicest dress and bought bus tickets and took her daughter to meet her grandma._

_The mansion was just as big and imposing as she remembered it._

_The dinner was just as structured too - thinly veiled insults, the occasional compliment, but mostly filling the air with pointless words while they ate dinner and Madi tossed spinach around._

_Everything was exactly the same._

_Including the sense of foreboding Clarke felt when she saw the familiar shake of Abby’s wrist._

_But it wasn’t until they moved into the next room that her suspicions were confirmed. Abby was bouncing Madi on her knee, making silly faces, and in her excitement, Madi dropped her teddy bear under the lounge. She started to cry and Clarke crouched down to grab it, only for her fingers to land on an empty pill bottle._

_Abby had lied._

_When she confronted her about it, Abby was incensed, so adamant that she wasn’t using anymore that she forgot she was supporting a baby, and Madi fell from her knee and onto the floor._

_The ear-splitting cries of the child barely seemed to get through to Abby, still trying to snatch the empty bottle from Clarke’s hand, and that was enough._

_Clarke scooped Madi up and ran from the house._

_She was halfway down the driveway before it even occurred to her that she was nowhere near her bus stop, and in fact, wasn’t sure **where** she was._

_And Bellamy picked up after the first ring._

_He arrived barely fifteen minutes later - which meant he’d definitely broken the speed limit - and took them to the emergency room so that she could get Madi checked out._

_He held her hand the entire time._

_Madi was cleared; just bruised and surprised to find herself on the floor, and she settled down pretty quickly in the car on the way back._

_For a few weeks after that, Bellamy hovered - made sure she ate in the mornings and didn’t complain when she ordered four cups of coffee, turned up at the inn as a “handyman” to help out, offered to babysit whenever she needed - and from that moment on their friendship had been cemented. No-one else in the town could come close. And Madi _adored _him._

_She looked up to him like a father, and Clarke couldn’t blame her._

_Abby had been clean for nearly ten years, and Clarke made sure of it before she ever went to her mother for money, but she was still paranoid, and Madi had never been alone with her grandmother before, and definitely not overnight. It had sparked some primal, panicked part of her, and she’d snapped at Madi that it wasn’t allowed, that she’d never let it happen. So naturally, Madi had run right off to Abby’s after school, barely bothering to shoot her a text as she left._

* * *

“Clarke? You okay?” Bellamy asked, gentle.

She shook herself out of the memory. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Madi’ll be okay.”

“I know.” She said, watching the trees fly by. Try to convince herself. “I know.”

Bellamy turned the radio on, letting music fill the car, and she relaxed just a little. When his hand slipped into hers, she found she had been waiting for it. She was always waiting for it.

“You know I love you, right?” She whispered, clutching tight to his fingers.

“Yeah, Princess, I know.”

She laughed, watery, and tried to shake the tears from her lashes. He only ever called her Princess when he was trying to cheer her up.

“You love me too, right?”

“Always.”

She nodded, tears slipping off her chin and landing on his knuckles.

“Hey, what’s with the waterworks? I thought you said everything was fine?” He said, gaze darting over.

“Eyes on the road, Knight Rider.”

He shook his head. “KITT can drive itself, so that’s a terrible reference.”

“I know.” She snorted. “I’m still surprised you let me bully you into watching it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about; I’m a very manly man who loves cars and Hasselhoff and-”

“-don’t bluff with me, I know you’re a closet nerd.”

“I have no idea-”

“-I’ve seen your secret bookshelf.” She reminded him.

He quietened. She was never really sure why Bellamy felt the need to hide the fact that he loved to read, that he was smart, that he adored history and mythology. But she had a feeling that it was something to do with his father’s temper, and the fact that once his parents were gone, he had to put his own interests aside to take care of his sister. Clarke was pretty sure she was the only person in town who knew that Bellamy practically had a library in his apartment above the diner. To be fair, she was also pretty sure she was the only person in town who’d actually _been inside_ his apartment.

Her phone started ringing again.

“Madi?”

_“Hey Mom.”_ She sounded a lot better than she had before.

“What’s wrong?”

_“Nothing, it’s just, well, Grandma wants to talk to you.”_

“We’ll be there in a minute.”

_“Well, actually...”_

“What?” Clarke asked warily.

There was a long pause, and when Madi spoke it came out in a rush. “She_ was wondering if you wanted to stay for dinner. I think she feels really bad, she’s actually offering to cook it herself-”_

“Oh dear GOD please stop her from cooking.” Clarke sighed. “If she really is fine, and you’re okay, and she wants to talk to me, then I would just be being bitter and petty to say no.”

_“We know you’re bitter, Mom.”_

“Don’t sass me.”

_“It’s the only way I know how.”_

“I taught you too well.”

_“Damn right!”_

Clarke could hear her mother's voice faintly, calling over to not swear. She rolled her eyes at the idea that ‘damn’ was a swearword, the way she used to when she lived in the house - her father had never minded, but her mother had always been prudish about language. She shook her head, almost amused. “It’s fine, we’ll stay for dinner, as long as you feel safe.”

_“We?”_

“Bellamy’s driving me.”

_“I bet he is.”_ She sang down the phone, that tone that Clarke knew all too well carrying surprisingly well through audio.

She let a steel edge creep into her voice. “He’s driving me because I was so worried about you that I couldn’t drive so don't get lippy when we get there.”

Madi sobered up pretty quickly. _‘I didn’t mean to worry you.”_

“I know baby, everything’s fine, and none of it is your fault, okay?” She reassured her. 

_“Okay. So Bellamy’s staying too?”_ She lifted the receiver away from her face so she could yell. _“Grandma, we need to set another place at the table!”_

_“Why?”_

_“Bellamy’s coming!”_

_“Is that the man Clarke’s in love with?”_

_“Yes!”_

“If you two are gonna talk about me while I can hear you, I’d rather do it in person.” Clarke said archly, hanging up the phone with a promise they’d be there shortly.

“Everything okay?” Bellamy asked.

“Yeah, we can stop panicking now, apparently my mother’s making an apology dinner. You’re invited.”

“Oh joy.” He deadpanned, making her giggle.

She looked over at him. He was focused on the road, one hand firmly on the steering wheel and the other still in her lap, thumb running idly over her fingers. She’d had a few relationships since Finn ran off. Lexa and Niylah and Cillian were all nice enough, but they’d fizzled out eventually. She’d never introduced any of them to Madi. And she finally realised why - because she’d always been assuming, deep down, that if she brought in someone else, they’d have to replace Bellamy. Not entirely, maybe not even a lot, but enough. Enough that she never even considered letting them get that far. Bellamy was what she was moving towards.This was how it always should be. This felt exactly right.

“Hey Bellamy?”

“Mm?” He asked, preoccupied turning into the long driveway of the Griffin property.

“Will you marry me?”

“What?” He didn’t seem to hear her.

“Will you _marry me?”_

He pulled over faster and smoother than she’d ever seen anyone move a car. They were still a long way from the house, the lights from the windows barely twinkling in the distance.

“What did you just say?”

She kept her gaze firmly locked on their hands in her lap. “I just... you’re basically already Madi’s dad, and I’m in love with you, and pretty much everyone in town won’t stop telling me you’re in love with me, and I never really believed them, but on the off chance they’re right, I thought I’d ask.”

His eyes were wide and dark and she found herself leaning forward, trying to tip herself into them.

Bellamy, however, seemed to be finding it difficult to formulate sentences. “You... I’m... you want to _marry me?!”_

Once she saw the flicker of panic in his eyes, she started backpedalling immediately. “We can pretend I never said anything, it’s okay-”

“Yes.”

She trailed off. “What?”

_“Yes.”_ He said again, earnest, final.

“Wh- really?”

_**“Yes.”**_ He repeated, and then his hand left the steering wheel and it was on her neck and he was pulling her close and suddenly she was kissing Bellamy Blake and it was better than she thought it was going to be. Which in itself was surprising, because she thought about it a _lot_. It was also a little awkward, a little hesitant, which made it somehow even more perfect.

She wasn’t sure how both her hands ended up in his hair, or how they ended up tangled in seatbelts as he leaned all the way over her in her seat, but she didn’t much care. She was content to stay there forever, but when Bellamy’s elbow hit the steering wheel as he tried to pull her closer, it sparked the horn, making them start in surprise.

He dropped his head against her collarbone, panting. “We’re supposed... to have an awkward dinner... with your Mom.”

She tried to get her own breath back while she stroked his hair, eyes shut tight so she could hold onto the moment as long as possible. “You’re the perfect man.”

He chuckled into her shirt. “I’m not sure how those two things correlate, but I’ll take it.”

“You’re willing to sit through dinner with my Mom, you dropped everything to pick up Madi even though you didn’t know what was going on, you constantly supply me with coffee even though you think it’s bad for you-”

“-you say that like _other_ people don’t think caffeine is bad for you, it’s a well known fact-”

“-I’m trying to be romantic here.”

“Sorry.” He kissed her shoulder and lifted off her, adjusting himself in his seat and checking his rear view before he started driving up the long windy road to the front door.

“As I was saying, your skin is beautiful, your eyes are ridiculously gorgeous, and I’m pretty sure, judging your arms by look alone, that you could rip a log apart with your bare hands.”

“You’ve gotta stop watching that gif of Chris Evans. It’s giving you unrealistic standards.”

“No, those standards were set a long time ago.” She said softly. “Somewhere around the time I met you.”

He parked the car and leaned across to peck her on the lips. “You can’t-” _kiss_ “-say things-” _kiss_ “-like that-” _kiss_ “-when we have somewhere to be.”

She laughed into his cheek and shoved him away playfully so she could get out of the car. By the time she had closed the door behind her, he was already at her side, fingers lacing with hers like he couldn’t bear to not be touching her, and they rang the doorbell. She stepped a little in front of him to conceal their joined hands, and when he shot her a confused look, she dropped a shoulder.

“Madi’s going to lose her mind.” Clarke whispered conspiratorially. “I want to wait until there is food in front of me before I spring it on them.”

“Why?” He whispered back.

“Because she’s been telling me to make a move for years and I don’t want to give it up too easily.”

“Smart girl.” He nuzzled at her temple.

“She’s too smart for her own good.”

“I wonder where she gets that from.” He muttered, smirking. “Why are we whispering?”

“Because I don’t want them to eavesdrop.” She said, and then the door burst open and Madi took one look at them and started squealing excitedly. She jumped up and down and leapt on them both, hugging them and shrieking something unintelligible.

So much for the element of surprise.

Madi was dancing around, chanting, _“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!”_

“And you’re so humble about it, too.” Bellamy teased, poking her in the ribs.

Abby poked her head out of the dining room. “What’s all the ruckus?!”

“Clarke and Bellamy are _finally_ dating!! They did it! And it only took literally my _entire_ lifetime.” Madi beamed.

Abby shook her head, amused. “Sometimes these things are inevitable. Come on, let’s have dinner so we can interrogate your mom's boyfriend.”

“Actually...” Clarke trailed off. She looked over at Bellamy, checking in - maybe his acceptance of her proposal had only been a gesture, to let her know he was willing to date her - but he looked right back, and there was so much love in his eyes that she really wasn’t sure how she’d missed it for so long. She leaned against him and his arms automatically circled her waist, tugging her closer to his chest. “We’re, uh, we’re engaged.”

Madi’s jaw dropped.

Ah, there it was.

_The element of surprise._

Abby grinned. “Well then. Better make it a celebration dinner. Anyone for cake?”

“Always!” Bellamy said cheerfully.

“Only if there’s coffee at Blake’s afterwards.” Madi said, very seriously, like she was worried that there’d be no more trips to the diner if Bellamy was married to her mom.

“Always.” Clarke promised, and she could feel him smiling against her hair.

They all sat down for dinner, leaving a place for Jake at the head of the table the way they always did, and she caught Bellamy’s knowing glance at the empty space. She had a feeling he did the same thing for his own parents. For a while they managed to skate by on small talk, and despite Bellamy's clear disdain for all decadence of the house, he managed to not make too many faces at the cutlery or the expensive plates every dish came in. 

"You don't like the bowl, Mr Blake?" Abby asked, when she caught the way his brow wrinkled at it as the server placed it in the center of the table. 

He affected an apologetic expression and tried to shrug in a way that was both casual and respectful. It was a tightrope, but Clarke thought he managed it. If the twinkle in her mother's eye was anything to go by, Bellamy had already charmed her completely, and she was surprised her mother hadn't called an officiant to get the vows done right that moment, and then she remembered that if she did that, she wouldn't be able to hover annoyingly over the wedding planning. Oh _god, _she had to plan a wedding. She seemed to have the thought at the same time as Bellamy, who reached for her hand on the table and brushed his thumb over her bare ring finger absentmindedly while he appeased her mother. "It's a little out of my comfort zone. I'm used to my diner, I guess. The food's very good though, my compliments to the chef." He paused. "That you have. In your house." 

“I’ll have to visit this magical diner one day.” Abby said, pointing her fork at Bellamy. “I’ve heard so much about it, I feel as if I know it already.”

Bellamy hesitated. “Yeah, if that’s okay with Clarke.”

“You police your diner customers?” Abby asked, eyebrows raised. She, presumably, meant it as a joke - because _obviously _he wouldn't do that, because _no-one _would turn away paying customers - but it hit a little close to home for the three other people at the table. Especially for the two of them who were frequent customers, and had been for many years. They'd seen a _lot _in that time; many an argument with Jaha had passed in front of their breakfast table. Clarke considered it a sign of luck at that point - if there wasn't an issue with Jaha at least once a week, there'd be six more weeks of winter. She even tried to start a disagreement once, just so that the town would reach spring sooner. 

Madi and Clarke almost choked on their drinks and Clarke tried not to think about the time he'd kicked someone out of the diner because they asked him if they could play 'Baby' by Justin Bieber on the jukebox. Bellamy’s cheeks flushed and he ducked his head.

“Yeah Bellamy, you police your customers?” Clarke teased.

He rolled his eyes at her. “Only the ones that annoy me.”

“So, all of them?” Madi asked.

He mock-glared at her. “Don’t sass me, young lady.”

“What can I say, she learned from the best.” Clarke said, stabbing something on his plate and popping it into her mouth, just to irritate him.

He only gazed at her adoringly. “Yeah, she did.”

**Author's Note:**

> whaddya think???
> 
> your kudos and comments make me happier than Lorelai!Clarke with a coffee mug in her hand. Or, honestly, me with a coffee mug in hand. <3


End file.
